titute a proper
sphere of action, seem to embody a field sufficiently broad to
be worthy of your intentions. It was hoped by the Commission
that during the present session of the board, the members of the
local company, together with the Commission, would be present
for a conference--more informal than formal--which might result
in a correct and definite understanding as to just what you were
to do, and how you were to do it.

The only conclusion which has been reached is that which gives
you a contingent fund, which seems to have been adequate for the
meager necessities of the past, but I believe that up to this
hour the exact part your board is playing in connection with
making this exposition a success, is far too indefinite to be
satisfactory to you, and it is certainly not satisfactory to the
Commission. Our Commission will adjourn to meet on the 10th of
January, and we hope by that time to be in receipt of some
communication from the Exposition Company announcing their
disposition of the report I have referred to, and the scope of
the work of the board of lady managers. Notwithstanding that
will be at a very late date, it is well to have it in sight.

The ladies of your board have been engaged without much credit
being given to the board or to the ladies themselves, in the
work of exploitation. A number of the ladies have done most
efficient work in their respective States--and some, in the
adjoining States--calling the attention of the people at large,
and in some instances the legislative sessions, to the vastness,
scope, and policy of the exposition. It is unfortunate that your
board does not receive the credit which this line of meritorious
effort deserves. In the end, I doubt not, that in the final
reports you will be accorded full measure of credit for what you
have done individually and collectively. The past has been
devoid of results because of a lack of understanding to start
with. I think you are now beginning an era more promising than
any outlook you have had in the past. I congratulate you upon
having reached a condition of harmony within your own
organization, which speaks well for the future. The earnestness
of this board, the disinterestedness of its members, leading
them in the first instance to volunteer their services to this
great enterprise